The Misadventures of Little Philip

* Philip has recently discovered that he LOVES to be outside. On Saturday, we got a truckbed load of mulch and began sprucing up our flowerbeds along the front of our house. Philip had a great time wondering around us as Matthew and I raked out old leaves and dug up old plants. He even touched a worm for the first time and tried to pet the neighbor's cat.

* Yesterday, I took Philip outside for a few hours around lunchtime. Again he played with the neighbor's cat and watched me do back-breaking work spreading mulch. Unfortunately he took a good tumble in the front yard and wound up with grass in his hair and on his face and lots of scratches. I also noticed some yellow mucus collecting in the corner of his left eye.

* This morning I took Philip to his pediatrician. He has pinkeye! Last night, his eyelid began swelling. This morning, I found Philip looking like he had a run in with Rocky last night. His poor left eye was swollen shut and crusted closed. A warm washcloth helped it open and then a cool one brought the swelling down. He did surprisingly well with his first drop of medicine at lunchtime today. We'll see how the 3 a day for the next 6 days go!

* I hate to say it, but my boy has my temper! He is rapidly entering the terrible two's early. When he gets frustrated he has an outburst; recent examples: scratching my neck, trying to bite me or his own hand, and today pulling several strands of hair from my head! My prayers need to pick up double-time!

* Not to end on a bad note, we are so excited to see examples of Philip's growing intelligence. He can now point out animals in his books (cat, dog, sheep), can do simple tasks when asked ("Philip, go put that DVD on the table.") and has begun trying to wash his own hair in the bathtub! So cute. Our next big milestone will be saying real words. That will change our world!

Flybaby... again!

Three years ago, my neighbor Tracy and I were talking about how we each disliked cleaning our houses. She mentioned a website that was set up to help in managing all the housework, www.flylady.net. I signed up and was excited that finally my house might look neat for a change. Well, I was working in Greenville at that time and not home during the day. The way Flylady works is that you sign up and receive emails all throughout the day which are supposed to keep you on track. For example, 7:30am "Get dressed to the shoes", 10:00am "What's for dinner?", 11:30am "Where is your laundry?", etc. Well, I'd come home from work and find 26 emails in my inbox! Not very motivating, very overwhelming. After a few weeks of mass deletions, I unsubscribed from Flylady.

Well, several months ago, I resubscribed and am now a struggling-to-succeed Flybaby (one of many catchy terms on the website; this one designates a new member of the Flylady system). I write this post for accountability purposes. Now I know that all of you (whoever "you" is) know I am trying to keep up my house, I will feel more compelled to complete each day's zone mission, the weekly "bless your home" hour, and go to bed each night with my sink shining, aka an empty kitchen sink at the end of each day (the first step in becoming a Flylady!). There are still 25-30 emails from Flylady each day but I delete as they come in (about half are just testimonials (letters of encouragement about how the system is helping others)). If you feel like you don't know where to start, I'd recommend you check out the website. Don't feel overwhelmed (which it can easily become), but just look for the zone missions which target a different room each week. Better go do today's mission before Matthew gets home!!

God directed Mom's decision

Yesterday, my mom had an appointment with her chemo doctor at 2:45pm. In an earlier post, I wrote that she had decided to begin taking chemo. Well, Tuesday night was really hard for her as she just didn't feel settled in her spirit about it. Chemo has many side effects one of which being numbness in the hands and feet which can be permanent. Last Tuesday evening she pulled out a book a friend of hers had given her several months ago. It is titled Beating Cancer Through Nutrition. It in she read that 40% of people with cancer actually die from malnutrition and not cancer. The treatments are so hard causing loss of appetite and lack of desire to eat. Mom is already fail from the past treatments and surgery recovery process. Honestly, I've been scared thinking about her starting more chemo and wondering how much her body could handle. She decided prior to going to the appointment that she would not be taking anymore treatments.

God had given her a peace in her decision, but He graciously gave her reinforcements through the words of her doctor and one of the nurses. They first met with a sweet nurse named Melissa. She openly and honestly said, "I don't tell patients this very often, but I don't think you should take more chemo." She said looking at my mom's chart that chemo would not be a wise move as Mom had such a hard time before and how sure her surgeon is that he removed all the cancer. Her chemo doctor then also agreed that he would not recommend any further treatments.

Mom's spirit is very good today and I'm so thankful that she will now Lord-willing be on her way to strength. Please continue to pray for her not to second guess her decision. It has to be scary from a logical point of view wondering if taking it would provide a longer life or not. That is where faith must step in. It's true to say any of us could be killed in a car accident tomorrow. We are not promised a set number of years. Her second surgery will be around the end of April, first of May. Thank you for praying.

Philip in the shower

I never thought I'd have photos from the shower on my blog, but these are just too precious to pass up. Last night, Matthew went out to chop our front bushes after dinner. He came in just around Philip's bathtime. Being sweaty himself, I asked Matthew if he would just want to take Philip in for a shower with him. We've been talking around it recently now that Philip can walk. Matthew said Philip wasn't sure about the whole thing (water constantly falling from the ceiling?). I peeked in once and little Philip was standing there looking uncomfortable. As you can see, he felt much more secure in his daddy's arms and up out of the way of the water. Too cute.

Little Reader

Like his cousin Hannah, Philip has also developed an early love of reading. Or at least an early love of looking at pictures and turning pages. Whenever he wanders off (the boy has MASTERED walking and is everywhere before I can even turn around), there's a good chance that he's made his way back to his book shelf in his room. I also wanted to write this post to brag on my wonderful hubby. When I was pregnant, Matthew said, "I want to make something for our son." We decided on a book shelf. We drove to Home Depot and bought raw lumber, nails, and some decorative trim. Matthew doubted his ability, but I reassured him that our book shelf was going to be great. And it is! This little shelf will be around for Philip's grandkids books.

Latest About Mom

Mom is no longer having to catheterize herself. Her bladder has gained some strength back and is now able to release urine on its own. However, the bladder's muscle tone is not exactly as it should be as she is still lacking some control upon getting up in the morning and after naps. She also developed a urinary tract infection, but that is being treated by antibiotics.

Tomorrow (Wed.) at 2:45pm, Mom and Dad will meet with Mom's chemo doctor to discuss further treatments. Mom has decided to take further chemo to help protect her from any more serious cancer should it arise again. She requests your prayers as she needs to decide whether to take chemo via a pill or a pump. The doctor will hopefully be able to tell her the side effects / benefits of each method. She and Dad will be visiting my aunt and uncle in GA the first weekend of April. Mom will probably begin taking chemo the following week.

Thank you for your continued prayers. Mom is a trooper through this even though every day is a struggle. Her ileostomy bag is operating well even though she has strange cramping feelings in her stomach now and then. The chemo will probably last four months if she is able to maintain her strength and weight. Mom's second surgery to reverse the ileostomy bag will be done after the chemo treatments are completed, possibly August.

First Haircut!!

Last week in Bible Study, we studied about Isaac giving his blessing to Esau, but it is in fact Jacob in disguise (read Genesis 27 for the full story). Upon returning home from Gatlinburg, I was expecting to see my "Jacob" and instead found "Esau". Philip's hair was longer and crazier than I remembered it and he smelled differently (a heavily-perfumed woman had held him in the church nursery). He just didn't seem like my baby. This made my decision easy: it was finally time to cut his hair. Matthew and I had to do it together; he kept Philip's attention and I snipped the back locks off. He is still just as cute but now much more refined looking. Funny to say a one-year-old can be refined, but the photos say it all.

Here are the crazy locks. I loved his beautiful blonde curls but this is just out of control!


Here's the new and improved Philip!


And here's what Philip thought about getting his hair cut. Thankfully we won't have to do it again for a while.

Trip Photos

Below is my post about our trip. Here are the photos to accompany the story. Enjoy!




This is our luxury cabin. Three bedroom, two bath, hot tub and pool table!!




Such silly girls!! We had a lot of fun just hanging around the cabin.

This bear statue is on a little side street in Gatlinburg. It's a self-made tradition I have to take your picture beside it.

Shopping, shopping, shopping! The outlet mall in Pigeon Forge is huge. We used walkie talkies to keep track of each other.

The girls found this mini-Merry Go Round and had to ride it.

Here we are having dinner at the Black Bear Jamboree dinner theatre. The food was great and they give you so much: chicken, ribs, corn on the cob, potatoes, green beans, rolls and chocolate pudding!

The show was great too. Here's a shot of the country section of the show.

Gatlinburg & Pigeon Forge

Friday afternoon, I left our church headed to Gatlinburg, TN with my co-Sunday School teacher Stacie and six of our 9th grade girls. I had been anxious about it all week (I'm more so a follower than a leader and this was the first trip of which I was in charge), but pulling out of the parking lot, I began getting really excited. Gatlinburg is one of my favorite places especially when staying in a cabin which we were. Matthew and I feel called to work with teenagers, but they are a tricky bunch. You don't want to preach all the time nor be too tolerant. You can't be their best friend, but you do want to build relationships so they will come to you with problems. I was just hoping that we would all have a fun, relaxing weekend in which we might get to know each other better and hopefully grow stronger spiritually.

Friday night, we started the weekend at an outlet mall in Pigeon Forge, then hit Walmart for groceries and finally made it to our cabin at 10:15pm. The cabin was located in a resort community but at the end of a windy road through the woods. I had been there before but it was a little nervewracking since there were only us girls on this trip. Once we got inside our cabin, we all felt much more comfortable and finally at home! The hot tub was calling our name. We all stayed up until 2:00am. Saturday morning came and I got out of bed at 9:30am. I was excited to head into Gatlinburg today. However, we didn't leave the cabin until 1:30pm!! I had literal cabin fever. These girls are SO busy during the week that they just took their time getting ready. It worked out fine as we still had plenty of time in Gatlinburg, headed back to the outlet mall late in the afternoon and made it to the Black Bear Jamboree by 7:15pm. Our dinner show lasted from 8:00-9:45pm. It was my second time there and all the girls seemed to enjoy it. Back in the cabin, we had Sunday School at 10:30pm. I taught our lesson about holding your Christian friends accountable when we see them sinning. This can apply to all of us, but a few of the girls had shared specific examples with me to which this will apply. Even if I had the knowledge I have now, I would not want to be back in high school today. It's a hard, hard world.

Anyway, after the hot tub broke, I told them all to be in bed by 1:00am as we had to be out of the cabin headed to breakfast by 10:00am the next morning. Sunday came, we cleaned up the cabin and drove up the road to the Applefarm Restaurant for breakfast. It was great and a nice way to finish our weekend. Back home by 3:30pm. Thank you Lord for our safety.

He's on the mend... we think!

We put Philip to bed at 9:00pm last night after giving him more Tylenol. When I went to bed at 11:15pm, I wanted to check on him. I entered his room and he heard me and sat up. This gave me a chance to change his diaper and take his temp -- down to 99.9F. Thank you Lord! He slept through the night (I checked him at 5:45am and he was sleeping peacefully). His temp this morning was 99.5F. I pray that he just had some sort of 24-hour bug. He is teething still though so he might still be having pain from that. I'll just have to watch and see. Thanks for your prayers.

Also, Mom and Dad are at her radiologist appointment now and will meet with her surgeon this afternoon. Please pray that everything will go well and God will give these doctors wisdom as to what is next in store for Mom.

Poor Baby Philip

Yesterday, Philip was a little more cranky than normal. Today I found out why. He either has the flu which I had last week or he has an ear infection. This morning he got up and was more clingy than usual. He's normally jumping in his crib, but not today. Matthew said he felt warm when he hugged Philip goodbye. I took him temp after breakfast and it was 102.0F!! I had never seen him thermometer go that high. Well, I gave him a dose of Tylenol and we watched The Doodlebops on the couch. Philip fell asleep right on my lap (he is a very active boy normally) and I put him back in bed around 8:45am. I heard him waking up a little before 11:00am. Hesistantly, I took him temp again -- 102.3F. More Tylenol. I called his doctor, but the nurse told me just to keep giving him Tylenol and watch him overnight. Philip was just so lethargic through lunchtime; exactly how I felt last Wednesday when my temp was 102.4F. He would settle in with me on the couch and seemed ok as long as we remained still. Well at 12:20pm, I took his temp again and it was up to 103.0F. More Tylenol and we napped on the couch. He ate some peaches and vegetable soup at 3:00pm before going back to bed. At 4:30pm, his temp was 103.6F and it made me scared. Again the nurse from his doctor's office said just to keep giving him Tylenol and try a tepid bath to bring the fever down. They said 103.6F was not that bad yet. Try telling that to a first time mom who's baby is miserable and not acting like himself at all. Well, Philip went to bed with a temp of 103.2F so it's coming down a little. I pray he will be getting better tomorrow and that we all sleep well tonight. He has an appointment at 8:20am tomorrow so we'll find out what's causing the fever.

Another verse for Philip

I came across this great verse while doing my Bible Study this morning.

"No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." Hebrews 12:11

Everytime I read the Bible, God brings out something new just for me. People always say don't read just a verse and take it out of context. The very next verse could be taken as such.

"Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees." Hebrews 12:12

Is that telling me that Philip is going to need a lot of spankings and I better get myself in shape for it? Just kidding. However, it doesn't mean I'll stop praying for him to be a good boy.

Mom's Journey

Mom is doing somewhat better these days. Her bladder seems to be getting better. She only catheterizes herself once or twice a day now. She is doing great taking care of her ileostomy bag although it's not the most pleasant thing to have attached to the side of your abdomen. The biggest challenge these days is deciding if she wants to take chemo treatments or not. A few posts back I laid out the percentages involved with taking or not taking it. By not taking chemo, she would have a 69% chance that the cancer would not come back (Lord-willing it is not in any lymph nodes) and she could have her second surgery to reverse her ostomy bag in April. By taking chemo, her chance for non-reoccurance would increase to 82%, but her second surgery would not be until after the four months of chemo. Every Monday, she would go to the cancer center. She would have a chemo pump via IV inserted in her arm (?) and come home. The pump would run for 24 hours before she went back on Tuesday to have it removed. This would be every week for four months. We're not sure how her body will react as last time she had chemo, she was receiving radiation at the same time. It's just scary that she is not even back to complete strength now and to introduce toxins which produce sickness might make her even weaker.

Please be in pray for my Mom and Dad during this time of decision. We pray that the Lord would give her a peace so she will know what would be best. Thank you.

Reality (TV) meets Reality (Life)

The other night I woke up around 2:00am and couldn't sleep. All the details of my upcoming Gatlinburg trip were swirling in my head along with visions of lots and lots of crackers (what's that mean?). Anyway, when I'm fighting getting back to sleep I usually try to pray. The faces of the other patients from the cancer center came to my mind. I suddenly really wanted to know how they were doing. These were people I spoke to for about 10-15 minutes a day for 10-15 days. They were waiting in the radiation waiting room with me while I was waiting for Mom while she received her treatments. We made small talk and they "babytalked" to Philip as he cruised around the chairs. I do pray Peggy, Doug, Cecil, Sam, and Carolyn are all doing well and their battles against cancer will soon be behind them.

My middle-of-the-night mind then randomly transitioned to Survivor. Those people didn't know each other from Adam one day and then two weeks later they are best friends. It seems odd to me until I remember Peggy, Doug, Cecil, Sam, and Carolyn. Sort of the same thing. We were all thrown into a world we were unfamiliar with and didn't know what was coming from one day to the next. I know they comforted me with the strength they exuded and I think Philip encouraged them with his cute, silly baby ways. I'm not sure if I will ever see them again, but maybe. There are cancer survivors' events held by the hospital. While watching the Survivor finale show, those people always say they hope to keep in touch too.

I think these reality shows are such a hit because people want to be a part of a group that cares about each other (as shallow as it might be). Yes, often they want to see who backstabs who just as much. Anyhow, God created us to love and be loved. Just like my 9th grade girls who desperately want to be liked (and the drama that ensues there!!), we all want to be included.

On a good day (especially after a crisis), Americans do a pretty good job of keeping the second greatest commandment, "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:39). How sad is it that we are oh so far from keeping the first and greatest commandment, "Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matthew 22:37).

If this post didn't make much sense, try setting your clock to 2:00am. Come back and read it again then.

Philip's Busy Life

The life of this 13-month-old little guy is pretty good. I don't feel bad at all knowing Matthew and I are trying to let him get the most enjoyment out of life (within reason) now as soon enough he will be introduced to the real world of school, work, etc. Too bad he won't remember these carefree days!!


Playing with our pots is one of his favorite pasttimes. We installed cabinet latchs on all the doors except the pot cabinet. I had always been told that babies love the pots and pans. It's especially sweet when it's finally your baby.


Philip is a great eater. Here he is after finishing some enchilada casserole. He then proceeded to lick the plate!


One of Philip's favorite things is looking outside. Here he is one morning, still in his "big boy" pajamas watching squirrels run around in the woods behind our house. He's so inquisitive. I love to watch him soaking in this world around him. I want him to grow up thankful to God for His wonderful creation and not take it for granted.


Here he is in his "big boy" birthday clothes from Grandma. It was actually bedtime (hence the bottle) and he had just finished eating a chocolate chip cookie (hence the mess). Since I nursed him for the first year and didn't get to watch him drink from a bottle much at all, I don't mind letting him enjoy his before-bed milk from one. It will end in the next few months when we'll switch to sippy cups like he gets now throughout the rest of the day. Bottles equal babies and I suppose I'm trying to keep him little.


My sister-in-law Lori wrote a fantastic post about the blessing of sleep. I knew Philip was ready for his afternoon nap today, but he just wouldn't settle down when I put him in his crib. Then I remembered what was wrong. Lamby was missing! I retrieved his special buddy from the livingroom, handed it to Philip, and he promptly sat down in his crib and then rolled over with Lamby! So sweet.

Low-key Re-cap

Thought I'd give an overview of what's been going on. This shall be "low-key" as today I've come down with the flu! Yuck! Thankfully, my friend and Bible study leader is a nurse and she said children under 3 rarely contract the flu! Please, Lord, don't let little Philip feel like this (or his Daddy for that matter).

Anyway, last Thursday Matthew and I had a mid-day date with lunch at The Wild Wing Cafe. It was my first visit and I'd say 4 out of 5 stars! They have 30+ flavors of wings and I recommend the Wild Wasabi Plum -- little spicy, but little fruity too. After he went back to work, I headed over to The Heights at Converse Salon and Spa. On our honeymoon, Matthew and I had one-hour massages (thanks to gift certificates from coworkers), and I've been hinting about wanting one again ever since. My loving hubby gave me a gift certificate for Christmas so I was finally redeeming it. Well, I was so excited to get there, but unfortunately the masseuse and I talked through the entire hour!! I don't even remember her touching my feet which is the best part although I know she did. She was a very friendly woman in her late 40's who had just become a Christian three years ago. We had a really wonderful conversation and it would have been a great time over lunch, but Matthew didn't spend his hard-earned money for me to make a new friend. After I got redressed, she said, "If you come back I don't have to talk the whole time, if you'd rather." Maybe I'll take her up on that. Unfortunately, I felt really sore the next day.

Saturday night, Matthew and I finally went out for our normal Valentine's dinner and a movie. Again, my sweet hubby planned ahead and redeemed some of our Discover cash back points for a Red Lobster gift card. Dinner was great. I ordered the Ultimate Feast so I could have a lobster tail. I didn't want to waste money again (i.e. massage) so I was ordering my favorite on the menu. We next headed to the movies where we saw "Firewall" starring Harrison Ford. Any "24" watchers should definitely see it. It was surprisingly good although my sin nature reared its ugly head. I leaned over to Matthew halfway through it and said, "That guy better die before the movie's over." How awful and desensitized we are within the walls of the cinema. Grandma Ruth Ann and Philip had a fun night together too while we were out.

This week has been a little hectic as I'm planning an out-of-town weekend trip for my 9th grade Sunday School girls. They won a youth-wide attendance challenge back in November which awarded them a weekend in Gatlinburg, TN. I booked a cabin on Monday and now am still trying to nail down transportation and if another adult should go. Currently Stacie, my co-teacher who's 25, and I are taking 9 girls. At least I think that's how many are going. I sent a letter home to their parents on Tuesday saying please let me know by this Friday if your daughter is or is not going as I need to purchase tickets for the dinner theatre. I'm praying that I'll hear back from them. My hat is off to youth ministers, school trip coordinators, etc. because I am not a detail person. I'll definitely blog about that trip. Let's just pray I get over the flu first!! With that, I'm going to bed.

Mom's Next Challenge

Mom and Dad had appointments today with her urologist and chemo doctors. The urologist said from her numbers (she is recording how many cc's of urine she is voiding (peeing) and how many she is catheterizing throughout the day and night), it looks like her bladder is recovering. He said to only catheterize twice a day and just before going to bed. When the catheter number is below a total of 200 for two days in a row, she can stop using the catheter. We pray that will be soon. The chemo doctor said that for people who've had her type of cancer with pre-surgery chemo/radiation and surgery, there is a 69% chance that the cancer will not return. That leaves a 31% chance that it might and if it did, it might be in the lymph nodes and could appear in the liver (much harder to fight). If Mom did decide to take more chemo, her chances of non-reoccurance would increase to 86% (not 100% but I suppose no doctor can promise those odds). Her doctor did say he was worried how her body would react to the chemo since she had such a horrible time after her first week of chemo back in October. He had to be honest and say he would not want this chemo to harm her even more with possibly hospitalization or worse as the side effects.
I ask that you please keep my Mom and Dad in your prayers for the Lord to give them clear wisdom and guidance during the next month. They have another appointment with her chemo doctor at that time at which they will give him their decision about more chemo or not. At first when she told me, I thought 31% of reoccurance was about a 1 in 3 chance which seems high to me. However, she could be one of the 2 not to get cancer again. To go through the torture that she felt after taking chemo last time for no reason would be horrible. Not often do we face truly life-changing decisions, but this is when we should rely on God the most. I quoted Mom my favorite Scripture verse while on the phone, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path," Proverbs 3:5-6. As Christians, we are to CLAIM the promises God has given us in His word. This is our chance.

My Precious Baby Boy

The theme of Disciple Now (read my next post first) was "True Love Waits: Living Pure Inside Out". All teenagers should go through a Bible study like this. We live in such a sex-driven culture that most teenagers (or people in general) are buying into it without much resistance. We as Christian adults MUST show them that there is another way to live, a way that God requires of us and will lead to abundant blessings. The Bible study was good in that it not only emphasized sexual abstinence before marriage, but living a life of purity in ALL areas of your life so that we can be pleasing to God. Christians are the worst for thinking if we just maintain purity in one or two areas that is good enough. It's not. God wants our all.

Any way, this weekend hit me especially hard after Jason, our youth minister, came over Saturday night to talk with the girls about what goes on in a guy's mind. He told them that guys are wired to be visually-stimulated. That's not a bad thing because that's how God made them. However this world (controlled by Satan) knows that and it taking extreme advantage of it by plastering the TV and internet with sexually explicit or at least suggestive images. Jason warned them that guys are being influenced by these things and unfortunately are hoping to act upon these thoughts with the girls they know. The girls really needed to hear this as hard as it was. I tried to stress to them to also remember that there are guys still out there trying to live for God but to just not let their guards down and try not to be stumbling blocks.

I said this was hard for me. Here's why. At the same time I'm listening to Jason talk about the moral depravity of a lot of teenage guys, I have a beautiful, innocent, precious one-year-old sleeping soundly in his crib who is going to become a teenage guy one day. It threw me into an emotional tailspin. My always-comforting God stepped in at that moment. I don't know what lies ahead, but God brought me peace reassuring me with the thought that Matthew and I have the honor of raising up Philip to be a god-fearing man who we pray will serve Him throughout his life. I have a bad character trait that if I don't know if I can accomplish something, I'd rather not try. That can't be applied to Philip. We have to raise him. Thankfully, we don't have to do it alone.

"These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." Deut. 6:6-7

"Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." Proverbs 22:6

"Do not withhold disciple from a child; if you punish him with the rod, he will not die." Proverbs 23:13

"The rod of correction imparts wisdom, but a child left to himself disgraces his mother." Proverbs 29:15

"Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord." Ephesians 6:4

Disciple Now weekend

This weekend was Disciple Now for our church youth group. If you're not familiar with this, it's a weekend long Bible study / fellowship time in which the teenagers are split by grade and gender to stay in different homes. Matthew and I were excited to welcome my 9th Grade Girls Sunday School class to stay with us both Friday and Saturday nights. There were eight girls and our college-aged leader Kim. Friday night, my co-teacher Stacie also stayed over to hang out with the girls. It was a great weekend beginning with a concert Friday evening (NewsBoys, Toby Mac, and ZOEgirl), an excellent Bible study throughout the weekend (Kim kept those girls flipping through their Bibles!!), a crazy scavenger hunt through town (Matthew drove 60+ plus miles in 2.5 hours -- we felt like we were on The Amazing Race with frustrating arguments and all!!), and just a great time of getting to know these girls better and build relationships with them.



A blurry shot of the concert stage. Great concert especially since there was a message given and 204 people believed in the Lord Jesus for salvation for the first time. Praise God!


Philip just sat looking around at all the unfamiliar faces in his house. By the end of the weekend, he had several new buddies. The girls had fun carrying him around and watching him laugh.

For the scavenger hunt, our group was split into two cars. These were the girls with us: Brittany, Erin, Haley and Kacie. We started out the race with Philip in the car, but since it was his nap time, he began crying the second time the girls jumped out to retrieve a clue (yes, they were all screaming!). We made a pit stop by my parents' house which worked out well as my brother Mike and sister-in-law Andrea were visiting for the day.


I joked with one of the girls saying, "We enjoy having you guys here. It lets me see how my house would be if we had eight kids!" We do love being a DNow host home, but it's not something I can see myself doing all the time.




Here's a group shot just before leaving for church Sunday morning. Back row: Erin, Haley, Philip, Lauren, Brittany; front row: Kacie, Meredith, Cassie, Courtney. It's a great weekend too because we all get to wear sweatshirts and jeans to church!

Additional Prayer Requests

My mom is doing somewhat better, but since my last blog post about her somehow disappeared from my site let me update you. She had her catheter removed about two weeks ago now. Her body seemed to respond well, but then the urologist realized that her bladder was not emptying all the way. This was highly upsetting to hear, but we all helped Mom get through the following week. Dad, Mom's two sisters and I all helped to catheterize her at different times. Her sister Cindy who stayed all last week with her, lovingly encouraged Mom to try catheterizing herself so she wouldn't feel so dependent on all of us. She is now able to handle it herself and has to drain her bladder every four hours so as to keep it from being overextended again (as was the original problem in the hospital). Her bladder muscles are slowly contracting back into place and will soon be able to function as normal. Please continue to keep Mom in your prayers for her bladder to fully recover and also for her spirits as she continues to fight bouts of depression.
Secondly, I ask for you to remember my sister-in-law Lori and brother-in-law Jonathan. If you've been reading my blog for sometime, you know these are Philip's precious cousin Hannah's parents. Lori suffered a miscarriage last Thursday. As they have been praying for a second child, it was upsetting to all of us and emotionally and physically hard for Lori. God has covered this family in His grace and love in an almighty way. His glory is clearly seen by reading Lori's words about the experience. Lori, you have inspired me so much to continue growing in my own relationship with our Lord. Thank you.

Our Busy Weekend

This past weekend was pretty busy and held many first's for our little Philip. Friday night we attended a Boiling Springs High School basketball game. It was pretty fun although the Bulldogs lost by one point! Philip had a good time watching the game, looking around at the students around us and even giving some of them his new face. Best caption for the face is "I'm not sure if I like you or not!" He didn't fuss much for being out until 10:15pm.

Saturday, we attended our friend Ben's 7th birthday party at McDonald's. Ben is the son of our good friends Melanie and Ron. I was planning to hold out until Philip was 2 before feeding him McDonald's food (you know, trying to be so healthy as we were with the B.B.F.F. and all), but through some friendly persuasion, Philip enjoyed his first Happy Meal. I was sad to see they've done away with the box and now just give you a bag. He also ate some of Ben's cake and ice cream before heading to the playground.

This is where it gets interesting. I entered the spiral staircase with Philip and we're doing great. We got to the top at which time you enter a yellow tube which curves to the left. I began feeling claustrophobic and just wanted out (kids don't have these fears I assume). Melanie's older son Clay was coming through at that time. I had asked him earlier if he would take Philip down the slide so he was glad to take over at this point as chaperone through the playarea. I felt safe with Philip being with Clay and scrambled back down the spiral staircase where I was greeted by Melanie and Matthew laughing at me. A few seconds later we begin hearing crying from inside playground. My maternal instincts were in high gear. I rushed back in and up the spiral staircase -- I was finding my son! Well, I wiggled myself through this thing and out down the spiral slide as fast as I could. Matthew was holding Philip who had tears on his cheeks. I had abandoned my baby and he got scared without me! I felt horrible. Clay had done a great job getting him through, but I guess that's why the age limit is 3-12 and not younger. To tell you the truthful end of this story, I went back through the playarea so I could enjoy the slide without being so worried about Philip!

We left the party at 2:30, Philip caught a 45 minute nap at home, and then we headed to USC Upstate's afternoon basketball game. A friend and coworker of Matthew's was being inducted into their Athletic Hall of Fame during halftime. I was not that interested in watching the game (basketball overload) so when Philip began fidgetting, we went out to the lobby to play.

Sunday evening, we attended a True Love Waits rally with our youth group. Philip was great throughout the praise band's time of leading worship and even clapped when everyone else was. He was content for part of the speaker's talk, but after books and a snack could not keep his attention, he and I headed out to the lobby for some serious wall-cruising. (In a past post, I mentioned that he's walking. Well, he won't come away from the wall, and plus he has now mastered crawling too. It might be a few more weeks before real walking begins!). After the rally, we made a quick stop at Krispy Kreme across the street. It was Philip's first taste of a glazed doughnut. Not sure how much he actually tasted though because his jacket was heavily covered with glaze flakes!

Prayers for My Dad

My Dad is under a lot of stress these days. Not only does he worry about my Mom's health, he is also the sole breadwinner these days. That's scary being a commission-based RV salesman. If you are looking for an RV or boat, I have someone for you to talk to! On top of that, his parents who live in Maine are in poor health. My grandpa has rapidly developed Alzheimer's Disease and my grandma, who was in pretty bad shape already, fell and broke her hip yesterday. Dad has a sister and brother in Maine and two sisters in Massachusetts. Nevertheless, it's still hard on him to be this far away from his family. Please remember him and my grandparents in your prayers. I love you, Dad, and I'm here for you and Mom if you need anything.

Barber Shop

Although I was blessed with a boy and not a girl, I'm still a girl and did play dress up as a child. For the time being Philip is my subject. I know the time is fleeting as to how long he will let me style his hair, so I'm using every available opportunity.




The slick look is kind of cute. This is his professional look.

Here's a photo I posted a while back. Philip has perfect mohawk hair. I did fix it up with a little mousse when we attended a friend's Fourth of July party, but normally it's combed through before going to bed. Hopefully we won't be seeing this again in the distant future.

Philip does have a lot of beautiful blonde hair. I am getting sad thinking the day to cut it is probably not that far off.




Here's God's own creation. Another great look!

Spring Is In The Air

Well, not exactly. We've hit another cold spell with highs in the low 50's, but Saturday was nice in the mid 60's. Matthew and I decided to take Philip for a walk since none of us had spent much time outside in a while. It was nice to just be together enjoying the scenery of our own neighborhood for a change. Here are a few photos.


Philip loves to be outside. Today he was looking extra cool in this fleece and sweatpant combo. His tennis shoes and USC cap finished the look. He's ready to ride!! My song for him while we walk is "Riding along in my stroller-mobile!"


Our neighborhood has a few good size hills. Matthew would let go of the stroller for a few seconds going downhill which would scare me to death. Philip on the otherhand is our little daredevil. He's going to love rollercoasters. I can already tell.



Here's a great shot of our sweetie Philip. He's a beauty!

Philip's Big Day

Yesterday, I took Philip to his pediatrician for his 12-month check-up. His stats are as follows: Height: 28.5 inches (17%); Weight: 19 lbs. 2 oz.(7%); Head: 95% (not sure of inches). Dr. Shelly said he looks great and is just built like her daughters were: big head, little body! It amazes me that most kids of his same age are bigger than him as I think he is getting so big. She said 7% is actually a good jump up from where he was last time; he had dropped below the curve and was charting his own path then. God always gives us what we can handle and Philip is just the right size for me. He's quite hefty in my mind and my back can attest to that. She said although he's not hit the 20 pound mark, we can turn his car seat front-facing as he is plenty strong enough to hold his head steady (Mommy will just have to remember to not make any sudden stops!). Also, his menu is wide-open, just have to look out for choking hazard type foods.

That brings us to the next part of our day: new foods. After the check-up, we met Daddy and his co-worker Mike on their lunch break at Holmes Hot Dogs. Philip enjoyed his first hotdog cut into little pieces with melted American cheese on it. He also ate pieces of the bun separately. Not sure if more hotdog ended up in his stomach or the floor, but we all seemed to leave full. For dinner, Matthew cooked Chicken Fried Rice in the wok. It's a great pre-made mix from Sam's that includes rice, chicken, pieces of egg and carrots, and peas. It's Philip's new favorite! I did have to spend about 10 minutes picking up pieces of rice from the carpet around his chair so next time we'll put a garbage bag under him. Not to go into detail, but I don't think he chewed all the peas!!

Finally, Matthew and I sat on the livingroom floor with Philip after dinner and he WALKED!! We sat about four feet apart and faced Philip toward whomever was not holding him. He took several good face-forward falls into our arms, but slowly but surely, he began to take one step then fall, two steps then fall, and then four steps without falling! It was great. Thankfully we did videotape it. Matthew then went to the office to save it on the computer. Philip was standing at the coffee table when I brought his evening bottle into the livingroom. I held it out and he took probably six steps to get to it! We've got a walker on our hands. He's been plenty strong enough for a while. I knew it was just a courage issue, and we may have broken through that. I'll let you know how things progress.

Missed Pictures

As the party mom, I missed some need photos as I was making sure everything was in order. Thanks (again) to Melanie for being camera-ready as I stole these photos from her blog. Gotta love your blogging friends!!





Philip is all ready to start the party! His party hat lasted only long enough for this photo. He tugged on the string and it popped off a few seconds later.


I was thinking of making Philip a truck-shaped cake, but settled on cupcakes again. It actually looks sort of like a word search puzzle. I'll try to make him character cakes for later birthdays when he actually knows who they are.

Philip's Second 1st Birthday Party

I especially wanted my mom to share in Philip's 1st birthday but she wasn't up to seeing a lot of people yet. We decided to have one party at their house last Saturday, and another today for our friends and more of Matthew's family. It was a lot of fun. Chocolate icing this time so Philip got a little dirtier!! It's so nice having friends get together even if they all don't know each other. It's funny the connections people realize they have. It's a small world after all...






"Here comes Daddy with another little cake. I'm having deja vu!!"





"Yummy cake! I could get used to a cake like this every Saturday."





"Boy was that fun! I'm a mess."





All our friends and family (plus a few off camera).

"Mommy's college roommates Kelly and Grace who thankfully still live close by and Kelly's son, Jake. Jake knows how to play with all of my toys!"

"My buddy Clay. His dad and my dad are friends. His dad realized that we're the same age span that he and my dad are. Maybe we'll be friends when we grow up too."

Mom's Week at Home

Today marks one week at home for Mom. She was thrilled to be coming home from the hospital, but as the week went on, her spirits rollercoastered up and down. It's hard for her to be at home but to feel trapped in her still very weak and healing body. My grandparents decided to stay through Wednesday morning. It was really good for Mom to have them here as she's been through so much in the last four months. Since Dad has been back to work this week, I became Mom's in-home nurse when her parents left town. Philip and I spent all Wednesday, Thursday afternoon, Friday morning and this morning at Mom's. God is working to shape my heart into more of a servant's heart than it has been. I have always thought that one of my spiritual gifts was that of service, but I am beginning to see that it had strings attached -- service when it's convenient for me. I came over Wednesday with books to read, movies to watch and this whole agenda for our "fun day together". Well, between taking care of Philip and Mom, I didn't have a free moment. Mom doesn't need a buddy right now, but someone to lovingly walk beside her through this extremely rough time in her life. God is helping me to become more compassionate when I would rather bark orders and take things as they come instead of getting upset when my plans don't come to fruition.

Please continue to keep Mom in your prayers. She is adjusting well to caring for her ilestomy bag which is functioning well. The hardest part is replacing the bag every five days as her skin is SO sensitive where the bag sticks to her stomach. She is also nervously awaiting her urologist appointment on Thursday. The doctor will remove the catheter and we pray her bladder will be back in normal working condition. She is on two medications to strengthen her bladder muscles this week. They must be taken at certain times of the day and certain hours before/after meals. We talked today that to get her fed and rested, we need to just set up a schedule as I did for Philip when he was first born. If all is well with her bladder, after Thursday she will only be taking pain medication as needed. She is trying to walk throughout the house to build up her strength. She just feels like life as she knew it will never return. Mom needs all your encouragement and reminders that "this too shall pass."
Thanks for the prayers.

More Links...

I've added a few more blog links to my blog. Melanie is my good friend who is a wife, mom to two great boys and one funny dog, and a school teacher. Casey is Matthew's cousin from Kentucky who recently moved to Virginia with her husband who is a Marine. Mollie is another of Matthew's cousins, but who lives here in town and is like a sister to me. Enjoy!

Birthday Boy

Yesterday was Philip's first birthday. This year has flown by and he has changed in so many amazing ways. I often say he is my miracle. I believe every baby is a miracle, but Philip, in an extra special way, reminds me of God's presence in our lives. Here's the story.

Matthew and I married in April 2000. Around two years later, we started talking about starting a family. Finally in February 2003, I was brave enough to stop taking birth control pills. Friends told us we'd probably be announcing the good news by summer. Well, that was a VERY stressful year both personally and in my workplace. Need less to say, it was not the optimal conditions in which to get pregnant. My doctor prescribed some medicine which might help in getting pregnant, but I actually never took it. In April 2004, I began attending Bible study at my church entitled "Believing God" by Beth Moore. In the study she instructed us to read Romans chapter 4 twenty times throughout the study. That chapter is all about how Abraham was promised by God that he and his wife would have a son and they received him due to his strong faith. I just thought how ironic, I am wanting a child too. That Bible study increased my faith and I gave my desire over to God. I knew that if it be His will for Matthew and I to be parents, He could make it happen. Low and behold, I found out I was pregnant just two weeks later. The Lord still works miracles! Nine months later on January 22 at 2:45 pm, Matthew and I met our miracle in Philip. I love him more every day as I see him grow and change. It is almost too amazing that the Lord entrusted this little life to Matthew and I. Happy 1st Birthday, Philip! Mommy and Daddy love you.

Then...













Now...